US Irish Brigade

The Irish Brigade was an infantry brigade of the US Army that was active from September 1861 to July 1865 during the American Civil War. The Irish Brigade consisted of five regiments of predominantly Irish soldiers, namely New York's 63rd, 69th, and 88th regiments, the 28th Massachusetts Regiment, and the 116th Pennsylvania infantry, and it was recruited and led by Thomas Francis Meagher. The Brigade was nicknamed the "Fighting 69th", and its motto was "vaugh a ballaugh", meaning "clear the way". The army served in the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater of the war, fighting in every major battle from the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 until the surrender at Appomattox in 1865. The regiment suffered 60% losses at Antietam and had its numbers drop from 1,600 to 256 at Fredericksburg in 1862, and the regiment had the third-highest losses of any Union brigade, after the 1st Vermont Brigade and the Iron Brigade.